Barbosu Handed Two-Year Ban, Making LA28 Path Harder

Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu received a two-year suspension for failing to meet her whereabouts filing obligations three times under anti-doping rules. The Court of Arbitration for Sport's Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD) announced the decision on Wednesday. The ruling found that the 20-year-old athlete, who won bronze at the 2024 Olympic Games, committed three violations between September and December 2025.

The ban was deemed to have taken effect on May 5, 2026, the date her provisional suspension began. Under this timeline, Barbosu can return to competition in May 2028. This period is conditional on the decision not being changed on appeal. The athlete appealed the ban and requested a hearing before CAS ADD. However, the sole arbitrator ruled that all three whereabouts violations were correctly recorded and that an anti-doping rule violation had occurred.

The case does not involve a positive doping test. It is based on rules requiring athletes in the registered testing pool to regularly provide accurate whereabouts information and to be available for testing for a specified 60-minute window each day, so that unannounced out-of-competition doping controls can take place. Under the rules, three missed tests and/or incorrect or incomplete whereabouts information within a rolling 12-month period count as one anti-doping rule violation. The standard sanction is two years, although it can vary depending on the degree of fault.

The International Gymnastics Federation runs its anti-doping program through the International Testing Agency (ITA) and initiated disciplinary proceedings following the three violations. CAS ADD partially accepted the federation's request. The court confirmed the two-year ban but ruled that results Barbosu has achieved since December 2025 will not be disqualified. This decision also covers her results in U.S. collegiate gymnastics.

During her 2026 freshman season at Stanford University, Barbosu earned All-American honors on the balance beam and in the all-around. She won Atlantic Coast Conference championships and finished as co-runner-up on the balance beam at the NCAA Championships. When the provisional suspension was announced, she maintained that the case did not involve a banned substance and pointed to the difficulties she had faced adjusting to university life in the United States.